Going to get 2 guinea pigs

Paulyh

ok, myself and my gf have decided to get two guinea pigs. we live in an apartment but would have easy access to quiet grass areas to bring them outside. Are they easy enough to look after? i intend to buy a large cage for them and to have them running around the apartment when we are there..........is there anything we should be looking out for when buying them? any breeds that are 'better' than others?
thanks in advance...........

Ainm

The main piece of advice I would offer is to get them from someone who breeds them or a shelter, not a petshop, where you can be sure that they are both male or female. They can be kinda hard to sex if you're not used to guinea pigs and I know of a few people who ended up with about 16 piggies after buying two 'females'! :rolleyes:
They make great pets though, they're so friendly and inquisitive. But if you're letting them loose around the apartment make sure you have a little box or something for them to hide in as the can be shy esp when you first bring them home.
Have a look at guineapigcages.com, it's a forum all about guinea pigs (diet, care etc) I found it quite useful

As for breeds I don't know if one is better than others, I've never had any kind of purebred so I can't really say. But I've heard that the long haired breeds need a lot of extra care as their hair gets matted easily. When picking them out check for mites/fleas etc or flaky skin or bald patches around the body. They should have nice bright eyes with no discharge and a clear nose, and be quite active, running around and squeeking.

If you're bringing them outside make sure the grass hasn't got any pesticide treatments or other chemicals that could be harmful to them, and they'll have to be in an enclosed run or something similar 'cos they can run quite fast when they smell freedom :pac:
They are easy enough to look after, they need fresh veg and fresh hay every day as well as dry food, and cleaning out once or twice a week. And they like to be let out of the cage for a couple of hours every day when you're home.

That's all I can think of but feel free to pm me if you've any questions

Best of luck with them

Paulyh

thanks for the tips.........it would have been a petshop i would have bought them from. but now i'll be looking for breeders. would you know of any? or where i might get details of some??

Ainm

You should contact the ispca (043 3325035) or any animal shelters in your local area (golden pages should have a list). If they don't have any guinea pigs themselves I'm sure they will be able to point you in the direction of someone who does. I'd try shelters first, before a breeder, as they usually have lots of animals and not enough space so it's a good thing to do. And they often have purebreds too if that's what you're looking for.

Paulyh

thanks again Ainm.........

i had'nt really thought of going to shelters, but it seems the obvious choice. i'll contact some around my area and hopefully i'll get 2 that way. i'm not really concerned about pure breed as long as they have nice playful manner and healthy i'll be happy.........i'll post here when i know more, or when i find 2 that are suitable

Ainm

No problem at all Best of luck

Sigma Force

If you check out my guinea pig site below in my sig. you'll find a step by step guide as to what to do before and after you get your guinea pigs.
The site is aimed at people who are new to guinea pigs hence the step by step guide but also for people who are already guinea pig slaves.

There's also important links to other sites etc.

At this time of year the guinea pigs will need to be kept indoors it's getting too damp outside now anyway and they make fantastic apartment pets. Although being in an outside run in fine weather gives them sunshine, fresh air and space it's best to start them off getting used to being outside during the day around end of May/beginning of April depending on the weather.

As a substitute you can always hand pick grass (ensure grass hasn't been treated with anything) and there's always dried grass and various herby hays you can buy anyway.

Best of luck in choosing your piggies, do try shelters first doesn't seem to be as many as last year but there's a good thing. There is someone who responsibly breeds them but can't for the life of me remember the link perhaps someone else might remember.

Edited to add: Breed wise other than say grooming with longer haired pigs there's not any difference really a pig is a pig and they all love to scuttle, squeek and stuff their faces non stop and lounge about. Whichever breed you deceide to get they're great fun, even if they are nervous at first which is normal coming into a new home with new smells etc. they will get used to sitting on your lap and snuggling up. They like to feel secure so if nervous at first wrap them gently in a blanket and pop them on your knee (handy anyway coz they tend pee and poop at random).

doctor evil

Don't keep them in those cages that are sold as guinepig/rabbit cages they are too small IMO Make sure the dry food is formulated to suit gp's needs. Do not use rabbit food as rabbit can make their own vitamin C while gp's and humans cannot.

When I had mine they lived out in a secure run which was attached to an elevated sleeping quarters, never had a problem with damp.

If your renting check with your landlord/lady. As they are rodents they will chew on things and you will be in troubles if it's cables that get knawed (sp?) I found that they get freaked if kept in the same room as the tv/computer, they just don't settle it must be some of noise or electrical field that they must be sensitve to.

I'm not sold on whether or not they make perfect apartment pets.

Paulyh

i'll clear it with my landlord first. and then i'll get looking for a nice big house for them. i've seen those 2 story ones on the wheels like gprescue mentioned which look great so i reckon the bigger the better. i think they would be the handiest as we can move it around if there is alot of noise of anything.

Paulyh

I'm looking to get one of these......its 120L x 53W x 102H. i would think its big enough for 2 pigs?? let me know your thoughts. its €159.00


edit: bearing in mind that we would hope to have them out of the cage as much as possible, they would only be kept in while we're at work, in the evenings we would hope to have them running around the rooms.

Sigma Force

OP that cage is just fine esp. with out of cage time, they are very easy to clean you probably won't have to clean both levels at the same time so one day the upper next day the lower.

With the castors you can move them out of the way to clean behind or move to another room etc.

They do make great apartment pets there's no difference between keeping them in a house or an apartment at all. Why would you think they didn't make good apartment pets Dr evil?

Wether you live in a flat or house the only thing is to consider where to put their dirty bedding. Lot of places now have those brown compost bins and all their bedding and poop makes good compost. If there's not compost bin then you will have half a bag to a full bag extra of rubbish in your wheelie bin.

Although you can cut down on that if using vet bed although that can be a pain to get the hay and hairs out of and you'd need a good few changes although long term it lasts for years so would save on bedding costs.

They really straight forward really and don't tend to be too agile so guinea pig proofing a room is real easy and they don't tend to chew furniture and skirting boards etc. like say a bunny might. Mine were always too lazy too anyway.

Only thing with any large cage with ramps as a pig gets older they can get a bit dothery and find it hard to get up and down ramps so that would need to be blocked off to they don't hurt themselves or fall in their old age. But that would be years from now if you got them as mini pigs anyway.

I think they make great apartment pets, they don't smell as long as they are cleaned out obviously only a normal hay smell but it's not strong. They aren't noisy so neighbours won't even notice you have them. They scuffle about a bit at night to have summit to eat but other than that they are lazy little lumps.

doctor evil

I just feel that flats/apartments don't have enough room, the same for dogs and rabbits. Cats are lazy feckers. TBH the standards of newlybuilt apartments in this country aren't fit for humans with regard to sound insulation.

OP what are the grass areas like? If you let them have the run of the place they will leave their calling cards everywhere!

Paulyh

the grass areas are nice and quiet and very close by. thinking of getting a foldable pen sort of thing so bring out to let them run around.
my parents house is pretty close by as well so i would bring them there too and build an out door run for them there, they have no other animals.
if anyone is interested i found a guinea pig forum.......its only newly set up and its the Irish guinea pig forum (obviously:D)
http://www.irishguineapigs.proboards.com/index.cgi <-- here's the link.

there doesnt seem to be any pigs to be rescued at the moment that i can see, so we are going to contact a breeder in longford........they seem really passionate about pigs.......i'm ordering the cage today, so hope to go and see the breeder over the weekend if its possible, so really looking forward to getting some new little pals!!!:)

Sigma Force

Flats/apartments are fine they aren’t small unless someone is living in a bedsit but then again plenty of people keep their guineas in their bedroom esp. if someone in the home is allergic so there’s no difference. I’ve been in lots of flars where they’ve had more floor space than our house.
Standard terrace family homes aren’t huge yet people keep pets in them.
In Germany most people live in flats/apartments they keep cats, dogs and birds and smallies with no problems.

I think a flat/apartment is the perfect place for a guinea believe it or not even sometimes better than a big house standing on an acre of land. Simply because it’s all too tempting for many smallie owners to leave guinea pigs or rabbits out in the garden all day and forget about them when the kids get sick of them.
At least in a flat they are close, indoors all winter so they don’t succumb to cold and aren’t as prone to fungal issues from damp etc.

Wish I lived in a flat sometimes at least when I did my bedroom and the sitting room was much bigger than my house is now. Lived in a house before but had no garden. It’s not the home that matters obviously if a place has a decent amount of space but it’s the owners and how much time they give any apartment animal.

A pair of guinea pigs don’t do too much damage to grass, anything they eat they re fertilise although they actually don’t need to be out except a bit of sunshine on fine days is good for them grass can always be hand picked. I’m on ¾ of an acre here and have kept pigs indoors for the past few years and handpick grass.
If outside piggies don’t get the attention they would in a home at least in the house we’re passing by all the time so much nicer too anyway to hear them wheek at you first thing in the morning.

Pigs don’t make much noise neighbours won’t even notice they are there

I'll shut up now I tend to waffle on when it comes to piggies.

Oh yeh before I shut up here's a link I came across recently great piggy stuff on it and cheap too well worth a browse https://www.thehayexperts.co.uk/Blankeys+%252526+Bedding.29/Vetbed+Original.258.html they stock the gorgeous guineas stuff which is brill and saved many a rescue piggy here over the years.

doctor evil

Guineapigrescue wrote: »

If outside piggies don’t get the attention they would in a home at least in the house we’re passing by all the time so much nicer too anyway to hear them wheek at you first thing in the morning.

I'll shut up now I tend to waffle on when it comes to piggies.

You are waffling!

I find it offensive that you think guinepigs kept outside are not given the same attention! When I had mine at home they had lots of attention. They were brought in and even when they were outside there was all sorts going on around them, plenty myself or someone in my family would be going outside into the garden, hanging out the washing, emptying the compost bucket etc. They were not forgotten about!

It can be argued that enclosed areas in homes/flats especially ones with central heating are not great for the guinepigs (or persons) health. At least with mine they had fresh air and grass and they certainly weren't dumped in the garden and forgotten about. GP's are most active at dawn and dusk, early each morning they were out in their (secure) run having a grand run around.

doctor evil

Guineapigrescue wrote: »

In Germany most people live in flats/apartments they keep cats, dogs and birds and smallies with no problems.

I think a flat/apartment is the perfect place for a guinea believe it or not even sometimes better than a big house standing on an acre of land. Simply because it’s all too tempting for many smallie owners to leave guinea pigs or rabbits out in the garden all day and forget about them when the kids get sick of them.
At least in a flat they are close, indoors all winter so they don’t succumb to cold and aren’t as prone to fungal issues from damp etc.

Wish I lived in a flat sometimes at least when I did my bedroom and the sitting room was much bigger than my house is now.

This is Ireland, what goes on in Germany is irrelevant, if Germany jumped off a cliff?

Setting does not determine whether a person turns out to be a crap owner. Plenty of dwellings have damp problems, nothing wrong with a well made hutch and run (avoid the shoddy ones in pet shops)

What kind of bizarre house are you in?